Based on my travels around the Western world (America, France, Italy, Great Britain, etc.), one consistent take-away that has emerged is how the major religions have raised enormous amounts of money, and used those funds to build great edifices.  They convince their congregations that sharing their riches with the church is the only way to some mystical salvation.  Church members tithe their earnings so the church can continue to enrich their holdings.

                            St. Peters                                               Harvard

Now that I have one son in college, and one preparing to attend in the next few years, I have developed a much greater appreciation for the role of the University in American life.  Let me preface my comments by saying that personally I have never enjoyed schooling — I didn’t like studying when I attended a private elementary school… all the way to adulthood when I wasn’t very impressed with learning at my graduate school.

The cost of attending a 4-year public university is approximately $20,000 per year.  That’s the cost when attending a college in your home state.  The out-of state fee typically tacks on another $10,000 to $12,000 in annual cost.  My son Barry attended Indiana University last year and took courses in Psychology.   Meanwhile, this past summer he took another course in Psychology at Sinclair Community College (the credit transfers to IU or OSU), which he indicated was roughly equal in quality to the class at IU.  Interestingly, the course at IU cost roughly $650 per quarter credit hour while the cost at Sinclair was $25 per quarter credit hour.  What is the justification for that additional cost at IU?

Now take a step back and recognize that the endowment at Harvard University is nearly $35,000,000,000!  If you can believe it, I have run into “philanthropy managers” that work for the Universities.  Their job is to convince alumni that they should bequeath their estates to the University… How important are these Colleges in our life that they need to possess these type of assets?  Is Harvard using their endowment to subsidize the cost of educating numerous kids that cannot afford the $60,000 per year in tuition and room & board?  Are they using those funds to greatly improve the process of teaching/learning?   I don’t see the return on investment from these contributions.

We now see the US College becoming the 21st century version of the church –i.e., you must pass them your material possessions to discover that mystical path to salvation.